The Federal Government on Friday apologised to Nigerians for misleading them when it ordered all account holders in the country’s financial institutions to register their details again.
It would be recalled that the government had yesterday ( Thursday), asked all persons holding accounts across financial institutions, including insurance firms, to fill and submit Self-Certification Forms.
It threatened to block access to defaulters’ accounts or impose a monetary penalty.
The tweets read, “This is to notify the general public that all account holders in Financial Institutions (Banks, Insurance Companies, etc) are required to obtain, complete and submit Self – Certification Forms to their respective Financial Institutions.
“Persons holding accounts in different financial institutions is required to complete & submit the form to each one of the institutions. The forms are required by the relevant financial institutions to carry out due diligence procedures in line with the Income Tax Regulations 2019.
“The self-certification form is in 3 categories: Form for Entity, for Controlling Person (Individuals having controlling interest in a legal person, trustee, etc), form for individual.
“Failure to comply with the requirement to administer or execute this form attracts sanctions which may include monetary penalty or inability to operate the account.
For more enquiries, visit FIRS’ website.”
This is despite the existing Bank Verification Number, National Identification Number and National Identity Management Commission in the country.
However, the Federal Government on Friday apologised for the misleading information, saying that not everyone would have to re-register with the banks.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, on its twitter handle on Friday clarified the publication for financial institutions account holders in Nigeria to complete the self certification form, pursuant to the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations 2019 which is for the fulfillment of Automatic Exchange of Information Requirements.
“We apologize for the misleading tweets (now deleted) that went up yesterday.
